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Lot Essay
US$9,000-13,000
EUR6,500-9,200
The present watch is an extremely rare example of a reference 6202, fitted with a highly unusual white honeycomb dial. Marketed as a "tool" watch, the Turn-O-Graph is commonly accepted as one of the "godfathers" of all Rolex sports-watches to follow, most notably the Submariner and subsequently the Sea-Dweller, and of course the much celebrated GMT-Master.
The Turn-O-Graph was presented at the 1953 Basel Watch Fair, available in stainless steel, gold and stainless steel/gold. The watch is equipped with a rotating bezel with five minute divisions, referred to as a "time-recording-rim" by Rolex. Designed to be used as a simplified chronograph version for timing events with duration of less than an hour, it was promoted as being able to calculate the "timing of a transatlantic telephone call, the rate of a machine, a patient's pulse, the speed of a train or the development of a film".
Despite the Turn-O-Graph's brilliant concept, the model was at the time not as successful as anticipated by Rolex, mainly due to the simultaneous in-house competition from the Submariner and GMT-Master. Very few examples were produced and even fewer have survived, the present watch represents a rare opportunity for the avid collector.
EUR6,500-9,200
The present watch is an extremely rare example of a reference 6202, fitted with a highly unusual white honeycomb dial. Marketed as a "tool" watch, the Turn-O-Graph is commonly accepted as one of the "godfathers" of all Rolex sports-watches to follow, most notably the Submariner and subsequently the Sea-Dweller, and of course the much celebrated GMT-Master.
The Turn-O-Graph was presented at the 1953 Basel Watch Fair, available in stainless steel, gold and stainless steel/gold. The watch is equipped with a rotating bezel with five minute divisions, referred to as a "time-recording-rim" by Rolex. Designed to be used as a simplified chronograph version for timing events with duration of less than an hour, it was promoted as being able to calculate the "timing of a transatlantic telephone call, the rate of a machine, a patient's pulse, the speed of a train or the development of a film".
Despite the Turn-O-Graph's brilliant concept, the model was at the time not as successful as anticipated by Rolex, mainly due to the simultaneous in-house competition from the Submariner and GMT-Master. Very few examples were produced and even fewer have survived, the present watch represents a rare opportunity for the avid collector.